Unit 4-Sensation and Perception

AP Psychology College Board Learning Objectives

• Discuss basic principles of sensory transduction, including absolute threshold, difference threshold, signal detection, and sensory adaptation.
• Describe sensory processes (e.g., hearing, vision, touch, taste, smell, vestibular, kinesthesis, pain), including the specific nature of energy transduction, relevant anatomical structures, and specialized pathways in the brain for each of the senses.
• Explain common sensory disorders (e.g., visual and hearing impairments).
• Describe general principles of organizing and integrating sensation to promote stable awareness of the external world (e.g., Gestalt principles, depth perception).
• Discuss how experience and culture can influence perceptual processes (e.g., perceptual set, context effects).
• Explain the role of top-down processing in producing vulnerability to illusion.
• Discuss the role of attention in behavior.
• Challenge common beliefs in parapsychological phenomena.
• Identify the major historical figures in sensation and perception (e.g., Gustav Fechner, David Hubel, Ernst Weber, Torsten

Unit Study Guide Based on APA National Standards

Use these standards as a checklist to make sure you've mastered this unit.

• The processes of sensation and perception
  • 1.1 Discuss processes of sensation and perception and how they interact.
  • 1.2 Explain the concepts of threshold and adaptation.
• The capabilities and limitations of sensory processes
  • 2.1 List forms of physical energy for which humans and non-human animals do and do not have sensory receptors.
  • 2.2 Describe the visual sensory system.
  • 2.3 Describe the auditory sensory system.
  • 2.4 Describe other sensory systems, such as olfaction, gustation, and somesthesis (e.g., skin senses, kinesthesis, and vestibular sense).
• Interaction of the person and the environment in determining perception
  • 3.1 Explain Gestalt principles of perception.
  • 3.2 Describe binocular and monocular depth cues.
  • 3.3 Describe the importance of perceptual constancies.
  • 3.4 Describe perceptual illusions.
  • 3.5 Describe the nature of attention.
  • 3.6 Explain how experiences and expectations influence perception.